Universal support for telecom around the world needs to...
Universal support for telecom around the world needs to be reviewed and cut down, said the mobile operators of the GSM Association Wednesday (http://bit.ly/ZhtgiK). It released a new report (http://bit.ly/10SIKvk) concluding “most funds are not succeeding in delivering their stated…
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goal of widening access to telecommunication services and that alternative market-based solutions are more effective,” noting the amounts of unused funds in these USFs. There’s $11 billion “languishing” in these various funds unused, with India having a particularly high amount, it said. The report surveyed 64 funds, with over a third estimated to not yet give out contributions in any effective way. GSMA Chief Regulatory and Government Affairs Officer Tom Phillips called the USFs “a convenient form of taxation on the telecommunications industry,” which often “should be closed down and the balance of monies held used to extend access to mobile services to those unable to afford them, or those groups that live in particularly remote areas,” according to an association statement. The report discusses the November 2011 reform of the U.S. USF, particularly emphasizing the change to the FCC’s high-cost support and Lifeline program. It called the U.S telecommunications market “highly competitive.” Nearly half of the surveyed USFs were shown to be of limited activity or inactive, but the U.S. USF was judged active.